Mary Young Benham also grew up in Elizabeth Township on the dairy farm on what is now Tipp-Elizabeth Rd. just east of Gearhart Rd. Frank and Mary had six children in eight years, including Robert Woodrow, who was born in 1917, Frank Arthur (1919), Roy Edwin (1920), Lloyd George (1922), Cassa Elizabeth (1923), and John Morris (1925). They were a lively family and well known at Elizabeth School.
Frank was a farmer, teacher, and Elizabeth Township’s Justice of the Peace for many years. Frank died in 1933. His wife, Mary, continued to farm with the help of her five sons and daughter. She was a very strong but yet loving presence in the family until her death in 1979.
Two of the “Benham Boys” served during World War II. Arthur served in the Army in Europe. He was severely wounded near Tendon, France and was awarded a Purple Heart. Lloyd served in the Marines in the Pacific Theater. He served in two of the worst battles of the war… Peleliu and Okinawa. He also received a Purple Heart.
All five of the Benham brothers farmed. There are still several farmers in the Benham family here in Elizabeth Township and in Clark County where Lloyd and Martha’s family still farms her family’s farm.
There are also many other professions in the family, but the most noticeable one other than farming in this family is teaching. Frank and three of his children became teachers. Cassa taught in Tipp City and Troy. Lloyd taught and then was a principal in Yellow Springs and Hudson Ohio. He eventually returned to Yellow Springs as school superintendent and later served internationally in Africa and South America. John was teacher and coach in his younger years at Jackson High School in Champaign County. Later in his career, he taught physical education at Bethel Local and then ended his career at Vandalia Butler as an industrial arts instructor.
There have been over twenty teachers in the Benham family, and teachers are still being added in every generation.
An interesting note: there have been 5 generations of educators in the Miami East School District from the Benham family. Frank Benham was a teacher at Elizabeth Township School #2 (Kyle School) on Tipp Elizabeth Road. Carrie Benham (Frank’s niece) also taught in Elizabeth Township, as did in-laws Martha Benham and Jean Benham. Joan Benham Yount Kocur taught at Staunton and Elizabeth Elementary Schools, Heather Benham Gilliland teaches at Miami East Junior High, and now, Frank and Mary Benham’s great-great-granddaughter, Kaylee Wheat (Barbara Benham Sutton’s granddaughter), is a fifth grade teacher at Miami East Elementary. That is quite a tradition!
Seated:
Frank, John, Cassa, and Mary
Standing: Lloyd, Robert, Arthur and Roy